Sanackranib
First Post
perhaps a better question is why DON'T elves drink whiskey or ale . . .
Why do Dwarves drink Whiskey or Ale?
Hussar
Legend
Of course, in a fantasy setting, we don't exactly have to limit ourselves to real world answers either.
Honey bees work, but, then again, giant bees would be great too. Or giant ants. Never mind all the magical plants and stuff floating around that might work. Giant Sundew mead anyone?
Honey bees work, but, then again, giant bees would be great too. Or giant ants. Never mind all the magical plants and stuff floating around that might work. Giant Sundew mead anyone?
Thunderfoot
Hero
Just limiting ourselves to real world alternatives:
Grain and grain substitutes that could be grown underground or on poor rocky soil:
Grass
Wheat grass
Bamboo
A host of mushrooms and fungi
Starches and gourds that can be grown in poor or rocky soil:
Potatoes
Pumpkins
Cucumbers
Squash
Beets
Turnips
Parsnips
Rutabegas
A host of mushroom and fungi
Sugars and sugar substitutes that can be garnered from plants and objects in said habitat:
Sugarbeets (actually provides more raw sugar than cane)
Sorgum (Makes great mollasses and can be used as a grain as well)
Honey (Anyone ever have honey mead?)
Turnips (though it takes a ton of these to produce a usable sugar substitute)
So what can we make from these products:
Vodka - Potatoes are the prime ingredient in good Russian vodka
Mead - A stout ale made with honey and wheat (grass in this case)
Ale - Any grain and any sugar (though some experimentation was needed to perfect (gives the camapaign a sense of history))
A host of distilled wines - Any fruit and any sugar mixed with yeast in a cold damp place (like a mine)
A host of distilled spirits - Any vegetable matter can be distilled into a working alcohol if given the right mix of sugar and yeasts (There is a German spirit called Rautzenputz that is made from fermented hot peppers - lets just say you swallow it quickly and don't really drink it)
So technically, there are a whole stack of possible Dwarven made liquors, a llittle investigation in real alcohol manufacturing and some history of moonshining can yeild a bountiful and potent dwarven inn/tavern menu in no time at all.
Grain and grain substitutes that could be grown underground or on poor rocky soil:
Grass
Wheat grass
Bamboo
A host of mushrooms and fungi
Starches and gourds that can be grown in poor or rocky soil:
Potatoes
Pumpkins
Cucumbers
Squash
Beets
Turnips
Parsnips
Rutabegas
A host of mushroom and fungi
Sugars and sugar substitutes that can be garnered from plants and objects in said habitat:
Sugarbeets (actually provides more raw sugar than cane)
Sorgum (Makes great mollasses and can be used as a grain as well)
Honey (Anyone ever have honey mead?)
Turnips (though it takes a ton of these to produce a usable sugar substitute)
So what can we make from these products:
Vodka - Potatoes are the prime ingredient in good Russian vodka
Mead - A stout ale made with honey and wheat (grass in this case)
Ale - Any grain and any sugar (though some experimentation was needed to perfect (gives the camapaign a sense of history))
A host of distilled wines - Any fruit and any sugar mixed with yeast in a cold damp place (like a mine)
A host of distilled spirits - Any vegetable matter can be distilled into a working alcohol if given the right mix of sugar and yeasts (There is a German spirit called Rautzenputz that is made from fermented hot peppers - lets just say you swallow it quickly and don't really drink it)
So technically, there are a whole stack of possible Dwarven made liquors, a llittle investigation in real alcohol manufacturing and some history of moonshining can yeild a bountiful and potent dwarven inn/tavern menu in no time at all.
I've always pegged them as being into wine. Fortified wines -- yes. Distilled wines -- not so much. As for the ale, I can't imagine any elf going for a beverage that made him urinate or belch more than is absolutely necessary.Sanackranib said:
Also, you guys are forgetting one of the crucial mined commodities that is made a big deal of in the Zork games: granola -- ore carts full of granola.
I don't see why they couldn't grow wheat and barley and corn underground. With a perpetual daylight spell cast at the top of a suitable cavern, they could grow very healthy crops, in a closed, protected environment, free from surface pests and weather hazards in near hydroponic conditions. If they diverted water from underground streams to irrigate these crops, I would think conditions might be even superior to above-ground farming. I imagine certain grottoes could be engineered to flood like traditional rice fields, and you could grow rice and other water-intensive crops as well.
The daylight spell is the best friend of underdark communities and agriculture.
The daylight spell is the best friend of underdark communities and agriculture.
TheAuldGrump
First Post
Heh, for my campaign dwarfs do not love gold, they love trade, gold is simply the most universally tradable compact commodity.
Dwarfs trade for:
Charcoal - a necessity when smelting and crafting steel.
Coal - Traded by the lowland dwarfs to those in more mountainous regions, from peat, to brown coal, to bitumous, to anthracite, the dwarfs need fuel.
Food - all sorts of food, the dwarfs are as fond of feasting as anyone else.
Spirits - Booze. They make their own meads and potato beverages from vodkas to whiskys, all else the import. Brandies for dinners, grain whiskies and stots for casual drinking.
Metals and ores - mostly from other dwarfs.
Work beasts - oxen, ponies, and even workhorses are more often hired than raised.
Labor - dwarfs hire human labor during the winters when the farmers are not farming, in return the farmers get wages and a secure place to winter. Much of the labor is performed by the women, since logging is also a winter ocupation, and the wood in turn can be traded to the dwarfs.
The Auld Grump
Dwarfs trade for:
Charcoal - a necessity when smelting and crafting steel.
Coal - Traded by the lowland dwarfs to those in more mountainous regions, from peat, to brown coal, to bitumous, to anthracite, the dwarfs need fuel.
Food - all sorts of food, the dwarfs are as fond of feasting as anyone else.
Spirits - Booze. They make their own meads and potato beverages from vodkas to whiskys, all else the import. Brandies for dinners, grain whiskies and stots for casual drinking.
Metals and ores - mostly from other dwarfs.
Work beasts - oxen, ponies, and even workhorses are more often hired than raised.
Labor - dwarfs hire human labor during the winters when the farmers are not farming, in return the farmers get wages and a secure place to winter. Much of the labor is performed by the women, since logging is also a winter ocupation, and the wood in turn can be traded to the dwarfs.
The Auld Grump
